Korean pastry craze comes to North Dallas via this bubble tea shop

Korean pastry craze comes to North Dallas via this bubble tea shop

Acclaimed bubble tea spot Boba House is readying for a makeover that will add a pastry that's new to Dallas, if not the entire country. When the makeover is complete, it will be called 9 Rabbits x Boba House, which owner Grace Koo calls "the love child of a traditional Asian bakery and a modern specialty cafe."

Koo has been in the culinary industry since 2012, studying abroad in Seoul and Paris, then working as a baker and pastry chef in New York and Korea. She knows of pastries we do not, including the newfangled croffle, a cross between a croissant and a waffle.

"It's a spin on an Asian street food where you take the laminated dough you use to make a croissant and put it in a waffle iron," Koo says. "I don't even know if they're doing it in New York or Los Angeles yet."

Koo saw this crazy croffle while living in Korea.

"I'm Korean-American and was fortunate to live in Korea for five years," she says. "I feel like they're redefining pastry there, and it matches my philosophy of doing very traditional items with a twist, doing a French-style pastry but with Asian flavors."

Boba House has been open for 10 years; Koo took it over about three weeks ago.

"It'll be business as usual for the next two weeks, but then we'll do a renovation and re-open in June as 9 Rabbits x Boba House," she says. "It'll have a bakery side and a bubble tea side, with an amazing menu."

They'll still do bubble tea but with an expanded selection. There will be breads of different kinds, and sandwiches, too, such as turkey with Brie and apple chutney, or a Mediterranean sandwich with hummus and grilled vegetables.

"It was one of the first Korean bakeries in Dallas and it has gone through a series of owners as people's tastes have changed," Koo says. "My sister lives here, and I came for a visit and saw that there was a gap with only a handful of bakeries, and hoped I could add something to Dallas' growing food scene."